Apple Inc. surprised investors with a decent beat on quarterly revenue from China, countering months of data that showed a quickening decline in iPhone sales.
Meta regained market focus with the widespread popularity of its open Llama. Nevertheless, as its AI investments are still in the early stages, it will take years to see returns.
Taiwan's GDP increased by 6.51% from the previous year in the first quarter of 2024, outpacing South Korea's 3.4% and Singapore's 2.7%, thanks to exports of AI chips and AI servers.
Apple is expected to rebound from a lackluster first half of 2024, with shipments of both iPhones and Mac computers picking up in the latter part of the year, say supply chain sources. As mere hardware refreshes can no longer stimulate consumer purchases, market attention has focused almost exclusively on AI and foldable screens; in Apple's case, however, implementing AI into their products may be the quicker option.
In the wake of the Ukraine War, the ripple effects are felt far beyond the Eastern European theater. As China and Iran throw their weight behind Russia, the landscape of global commerce undergoes seismic shifts.
The announcement for Apple's iPad Pro 2024 has been repeatedly delayed, reportedly due to issues related to OLED panels. Despite this, it was recently revealed that the two major South Korean manufacturers, LG Display (LGD) and Samsung Display (SDC), are responsible for supplying OLED panels for the new iPad and will incorporate many new panel technologies not previously used in iPhones.
Thanks to the server supply chain shift out of China due to the US-China trade conflicts, Taiwan's computer production value has grown significantly over the past 5 years. Although China remains the biggest production site of Notebook PCs (NB), manufacturers of high-end servers have returned to Taiwan.
In the first quarter of 2024, Samsung Electronics successfully turned a profit in its semiconductor business due to increased demand for AI-related memory. Coupled with the sales growth of the Galaxy S24 series, the outstanding performances from these two sectors led to a revenue return to the KRW70 trillion level (approx. US$50.85 billion) after 5 quarters.
Market research firm Yole's latest report predicts that advanced virtual reality (VR) headsets such as Meta Quest 3 and Apple's Vision Pro, which adopt Video See-Through (VST) display technology, will help drive the development of Mixed Reality (MR) applications.
Amid sluggish iPhone sales, Samsung Electronics and Chinese smartphone brands have begun to take advantage of this gap and expand their inventory of smartphones and OLEDs to seize market shares. This drove the utilization rates of OLED production lines for mid-to-low-end smartphones at Samsung Display (SDC), BOE, TCL CSOT, and other manufacturers.
Acoustoelectric component maker Primax Electronics expects multi-sensory integration products focused on vision, hearing, and touch, as well as public safety equipment, AIoT visual solutions, and automotive applications, to drive its growth niche, thanks to the increasing diversity of AI applications.
Responding to various rumors about the company's operations, MediaTek CEO Rick Tsai not only mentioned that the annual revenue growth rate of flagship smartphone SoCs will exceed 50% but also set a goal of achieving a 30% market share in the Chinese flagship smartphone market in the short term.
Despite sluggish growth, the global TV industry is witnessing a surge in demand for extra-large screens, driven primarily by the Chinese market's appetite for 100-inch TVs. This trend not only helps alleviate panel production constraints but also underscores the dominance of key brands.
Huawei continues its relentless journey towards chip self-sufficiency, showcasing signs of China's further advancements in advanced manufacturing processes.
The Democratic Republic of Congo's government notified Apple Inc. of concerns that the company's supply chain may be tainted by conflict minerals sourced from the central African nation.
Although US sanctions have significantly slowed down the development of China's semiconductor industry towards the advanced nodes, it is not the time to be content that China is lagging behind the US in semiconductor technologies.
The governments of Europe, the US, Japan, and China see quantum computers as a long-term strategic investment project. With the support of stable and long-term funding, the related start-up investments grew at an annual rate of about 20% between 2021-2023, according to CB Insights.
Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. is "opening up" its Meta Quest headset operating system to other hardware makers, part of an effort to boost its standing in the nascent augmented reality and virtual reality industries.
Recent market rumors suggest Apple is considering developing robots as its next product line. While there's no further news on what business model Apple might adopt, it seems inevitable that robots will become the next big thing.
In the mobile application processor (AP) market, MediaTek secured the top spot in terms of shipment volume, while Apple held on to its spot as the sales leader. In contrast, Samsung Electronics has a market share of only around 5%, and some viewpoints suggest that Samsung System LSI needs to enhance its competitiveness quickly
The consumer electronics market has remained sluggish since 2023, with no evident signs of recovery even after the first quarter of 2024, whether for smartphones, notebooks, or consumer networking devices. Market observers attribute this prolonged downturn to persistently high inflation rates in Europe and the US.
